Witiko Falls: Disillusion

Kurt Crawford

Projectionist & horror movie enthusiast

Description:

Physical Profile: Kurt seems like an ordinary college student with a bespectacled, stylish appearance. The young man is slim and notably short, though; he is equal in height to the average girl in his graduating class at Witiko Falls High School.

“The art of observation has little to do with what things you see and everything to do with how you see them.”

Bio:

Historical Profile:
Kurt Crawford, Jr. is the youngest child to high school sweethearts Kurt Crawford, Sr. and Arlene Josephine Crawford. The bespectacled young man was born in the sleepy lake town of Sandpoint, Idaho on November 3rd, 1980. His older sister Amy Rose Crawford was born there two years prior in 1978.

The family moved to Witiko Falls much to his older sister’s chagrin while Kurt was still attending middle school. It was his parent’s desire to buy a barley farm, something his father had dreamed of doing since he was a young boy, Kurt, Sr. having used to visit and help out around his uncle’s barley farm all too often while growing up. Arlene, doting wife that she is, was only too happy to support her husband’s longtime dream. As with some dreams, however, a nightmare was soon to follow.

Witiko Falls initially proved to be an idyllic move.

The family managed to cut through the ‘outsider’ moniker easier than most. Friends, connections, and business partners were made rather quickly. Kurt’s father managed to build some rapport, respect, and esteem. This, unfortunately, did not last for all that long as Kurt’s father went out one night to his barley fields -and had to be carried back after inexplicably becoming mute and catatonic. The sudden debility left the family feeling vulnerable, disjointed, and unable to manage the farm. Reeling with those loses, the family reluctantly sold the farm, using the money to pay for outstanding expenses (including the mounting medical bills for Kurt’s father), and moved into Saint Enoch Towers. Kurt thankfully made friends in the same complex. These included a guy by the name of Wilson Perry, who’s been Kurt’s best friend since his sophomore year at Witiko Falls High School, and Felicity Larsen, who had been Kurt’s first and only serious girlfriend throughout high school -at least until they broke up a week ago.

Since their move to Saint Enoch’s, Kurt’s mother Arlene, who had previously been a homemaker, began to work long hours to keep up with day-to-day bills and medical expenses, first as a cleaning lady for a few local shops, and then as a graveyard shift janitor for the local pharmaceutical plant, Nostrum Enterprises.

Meanwhile, Kurt’s sister Amy began to act out, becoming rebellious, recalcitrant, fighting with her mother daily, eventually reaching a point where she decided to leave home and move in with her boyfriend Rick Novak, a coworker of hers at Shop-Plus. Kurt usually acts as a go-between when the two are on non-speaking terms, something that is frequent.

As Kurt remained in the background, watching his family fall to pieces before his eyes, he made the most of his time by looking after his dad when his mother asked, working at the local Scarecrow Cinema, partaking in extracurricular activities at school such as photography, videography, and basketball. It’s been difficult, but Kurt is pretty adamant about keeping himself distracted – even if inwardly the thought of trying to help his family deeply plagues his mind.

Psychological Profile: Kurt is introspective in a lot of ways, although attempts to be as realistic and logical as possible. He does get the feeling that some things are never as they first seem, though. For example, Kurt knows that his father suffers from dementia, and is now in a near-comatose state; however, he sometimes wonders if it’s intrinsically linked to the parasomnia that plagues all of Witiko Falls. He tries to dismiss the thought, but it does play around in his mind from time to time.

Ultimately, Kurt is a fence-sitter on a lot of issues, not just the paranormal. But when it comes to paranormal phenomenon, he gets caught up with this feeling that maybe there’s more to it all, maybe it’s all real, maybe the paranormal is real. But then, logically, he dismisses the idea as a little too silly. Nonetheless, Kurt believes that things aren’t entirely objective, and accepts things as more subjective, being rather understanding of other people’s personal viewpoints and beliefs. For instance, he is not personally religious at all, although he is by no means an atheist. He is agnostic about a lot of things. This is by dint of being a young man and being fully aware of that fact. He knows that his beliefs are not at all fully developed; he knows that he is still in the process of developing his own personal identity.

Thomas Larson – Felicity’s little brother. She and her mom always call him Tommy, which he hates. In contrast, Thomas idolized Kurt -presumably until Kurt broke up with his sister.

Irene Larson – Felicity’s and Thomas’ mother. Close friends with Arlene, particularly since both were forced to relocate into Saint Enoch’s and work tedious jobs to support their two kids. Irene’s husband was a drunk philanderer who abandoned his family. She does contract-work for the local hospital, transcribing medical reports.

Rick Novak – Older sister’s boyfriend, works at Shop-Plus as head stock-boy.